OTTAWA – As of Tuesday afternoon, Hydro Ottawa has restored power to an additional 36,000 customers, bringing the three-day total to more than 106,000. An estimated 74,000 customers remain without power in nearly every city ward.
Hydro Ottawa’s efforts to restore power have been non-stop since a devastating storm surged through the Ottawa region late Saturday afternoon. Working around the clock, crews’ efforts have been bolstered by contractors as well as support from utilities from the Greater Toronto Area, Kingston and New Brunswick. All available Hydro Ottawa employees, contractors and utility partners are joining forces in the effort working side-by-side. Restoration efforts will continue 24/7 until all residents are reconnected.
As stated previously, this event is significantly worse than the Ice Storm of 1998 and the tornadoes of 2018 in terms of destruction to the city’s electricity grid. The level of damage to the distribution system is due to high winds, fallen trees and significant damage to more than 200 hydro poles. By comparison, 80 hydro poles needed replacing during the tornado event in 2018.
Given the number of separate events and the extent of damage to electrical equipment, this continues to be a multi-day restoration effort. After critical institutions and emergency services, power restoration work is prioritized to outages affecting large neighbourhoods with the largest number of customers, followed by smaller areas, keeping safety as the number one priority.
Safety tips
- Hydro Ottawa asks the public to respect work site perimetres by keeping a safe distance from crews and as they work on energizing the power grid.
- If customers notice downed power lines, stay at least 10 metres away (the length of a school bus) from the wires and from any objects that are in contact with the lines such as trees. If there is a downed power line, please call us at 613 738-0188.
- Hydro Ottawa is working with the City of Ottawa to ensure that those affected by extended power outages get the help they need. The City has opened several emergency reception centres. Visit the City of Ottawa’s Emergency Preparedness page for an expanded list.
- As a reminder, if customers were cooking when the power went out, turn off the stove, oven or other cooking appliances.
- As power is being restored, Hydro Ottawa reminds residents to conserve their use of energy and avoid turning on all electronics and appliances to avoid impacting the electricity supply.
- Turn off all lights, unplug appliances and electronics, and turn down heating system thermostats. This will help avoid a power surge when electricity is restored.
- Please reserve the use of 911 to situations where there is a risk to public safety, and life-threatening emergencies.
Hydro Ottawa will continue to keep customers and the public advised of the situation via the news media, our website and on our social channels.
Media Contact
Josée Larocque
Manager, Media and Public Affairs
Hydro Ottawa
[email protected]